Instincts Never Change
by Clueless-Little-Muffin
Summary: "Aubrey wanted to scream. This wasn't the Teresa Lisbon she loved to hate. It just couldn't be. That Teresa Lisbon would never tolerate some guy practically telling her to shut up, let alone allow him to call her woman. Or any pet name for that matter." Lisbon shows up to her 20th High School Reunion with unexpected company, much to the chagrin of an old frenemy. Slight Jane/Lisbon


**Instincts Never Change**

The woman's hazel eyes flickered around the gymnasium impatiently. She was at her 20th high school reunion and Teresa_ promised_ she'd be there this time. Twenty years since she's last heard from the woman and they were finally going to see each other again. Aubrey smirked. She'd finally get to flaunt her perfect life in her stuck up little face.

So maybe they weren't the best of friends in high school. More like arch-rivals, the cheerleader and the emo chick. It wasn't that hard to figure out who was who. The brunette always managed to get under her skin, whether she realized it or not.

Oh, she definitely realized it.

Aubrey never bought into her girl-who-couldn't-care-less facade, Teresa Lisbon was a grade A _bitch_ that reveled in making others tick. Aubrey'd throw a snarky comment from a across the hall, the other girl would walk it off with practiced ease, as if the cheerleader was an annoying fly compared to everything else she had to worry about. It was just one of her methods of torture, she knew, but it still annoyed her to no end.

But now, Aubrey would finally even out the scoreboard. She had a gorgeous daughter, a husband that practically worshiped the ground she walked on and an amazing job at a high class law firm. Her life was as perfect as they came. Last she heard Teresa was single and alone, cut all personal ties (not including her brothers) and headed to California almost as soon as she got her diploma. Her high school sweetheart, Greg, had followed her like a lost puppy and proposed when they were only nineteen, so Aubrey couldn't really fault her for hightailing out of that relationship and skipping town. Again.

"Sweetheart, I don't think she's coming. You need to relax–"

She slapped away her husband's hand as it crept up her shoulder, "Shh. There she is!"

Standing, she waved the brunette over to the table she and a few people from her graduating class were occupying. As Teresa spotted them and began making her way over, she took the opportunity to study the woman.

The years had been kind to her, Aubrey admitted begrudgingly. She was thin, (and not in an anorexic way, unfortunately) probably because of her occupation, chasing down criminals was a good way to lose those extra few pounds, and she'd never had a baby, so no body fat needed to be worked off.

Her silky black tresses still fell in natural waves down her back, only shorter than Aubrey remembered. In high school it was almost waist length, and now it fell just inches below her shoulders. Her eyes were darker too, instead of the sea foam green she was accustomed too they were the color of emeralds.

She was wearing a knee length chocolate brown dress that contrasted against her creamy skin nicely and showed off her lithe figure without being too revealing. She wore almost no makeup, just light eye shadow and a delicate coating of lipstick. Subtle, but elegant enough to make you look twice.

Only when the agent pushed through a crowd of tipsy ex-footballers did Aubrey notice the man attached to her arm. He was taller than Teresa, of course, with a grin so bright it could blind an angel. Despite his questionable sense of style (who still wore suits like that in real life? Seriously.), he was gorgeous, and her breath caught in her throat when his cerulean blue eyes met her own.

_He_ was here with Teresa? Teresa _Lisbon_?

"It's great to see you again, Aubrey! Twenty years... Wow."

Aubrey forced herself to look away from the blonde Adonis standing in front of her, his smile suddenly a lot more knowing then she would have liked, and wrapped her arms around Teresa.

"Teresa!" She squealed. "Time does fly, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it's been too long." The brunette smiled, eyes glinting mischievously and in a way Aubrey did not like at all. "I see you're still a redhead?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly at the thinly veiled insult. She knew Teresa would pull something like this.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

With a shrug she replied as innocently as possible, "No reason. Just be careful, the labels on those dye bottles can be tricky."

Aubrey leveled a glare at the two women still sitting at the table as they began to snicker.

At the time, the ex-cheerleader blamed herself. She did leave a bottle of red hair dye sitting in the locker room unprotected, but how was _she _supposed to know the little she-devil in front of her would switch it (and no matter how many times she denied it or provided the principle with a rock solid alibi, Aubrey knew it was her)? She ended up walking around with her hair dyed cookie-monster-blue for the rest of the day.

Eager to change the subject she gestured towards Teresa's date, who had been watching their exchange with interest. "So, whose this then?

Suddenly the brunette looked awkward and hesitant. "Oh. This is Jane. I mean Patrick! He's my, uhm.."

The blonde, _Patrick_, cut her off with a soft squeeze of her elbow. "No need to be nervous, darling." He winked at the small group. "She's not big on labels. Pleasure to meet you all, my name is Patrick Jane. Teresa and I are lovers."

One woman choked on her champagne, and the others just gaped. Teresa let out an almost feral growl and Aubrey swore she was about to lunge at her, uh, _lover's_ neck.

Patrick just grinned wider.

"He's just joking," Teresa assured the scandalized women through gritted teeth. "He likes to mess around, don't you _sweetheart_?"

She clutched his elbow so tightly he winced, "Of course. If I really was married to another woman and intended to keep it a secret I wouldn't be flaunting my mistress at a party. I'm more discreet than that."

Teresa scowled at him, but her grip loosened considerably. "Really? Try telling that to the pile of complaints stacked on my desk back home."

"Now, now, my dear. You're supposed to be having fun, you promised you wouldn't talk about work." Patrick chided gently.

Aubrey, who was watching them like she would a game of tennis, thought it was sweet that he wanted to get her to relax. Teresa obviously didn't agree.

"Don't antagonize me, Jane."

"Patrick."

"You're still doing it!"

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

****This was definitely the strangest high school reunion she had ever been too. She's only been to one other reunion, though, so that wasn't saying much.

Strangest party then.

Aubrey had marched into the gymnasium ready to one up her old rival, but had ended up more shocked than proud. And it was all because of Teresa freaking Lisbon._ Of course._

She wasn't even doing it on purpose, not this time. Simple things she did or didn't do would just completely floor the redhead. Like when her date brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes and she _didn't_ rip his hand off with her teeth. Or when Patrick was telling the three women and their husbands an obviously over-dramatized version of a case he had worked on and Teresa kept correcting him.

A crazy man wielding a machete turned into a six year old holding a plastic lightsaber.

A tiger that had mauled an old lady became a tabby who fell asleep on it's deceased master's chest.

After she was about to correct him for a third time, he finally had enough of it. "I am merely providing an entertaining break from their mundane lives. Stop interrupting me, woman."

The brunette's old classmates stared in awe as the woman they knew to be stubborn and vicious when ordered around simply shut her mouth and sarcastically mimed zipping it shut.

"Thank you, love."

_What the hell?! _Aubrey wanted to scream. This wasn't the Teresa Lisbon she loved to hate. It just couldn't be. That Teresa Lisbon would never tolerate some guy practically telling her to shut up, let alone allow him to call her_ woman_. Or any pet name for that matter. And while she was scowling at him, there was a strange look in her eyes, _affection_, that gave her away.

The only reason Aubrey ever bothered to show up to these things was to brag about her perfectly loving husband and daughter, but looking at her ex-rival, who had none of these things, she realized Teresa might just be happier than she was.

Her life was so unfair.**  
**

* * *

The brunette weaved her way through the maze of cars in the parking lot towards the familiar Citroen, unnaturally eager to take a spin in the powder blue death trap, her consultant following just behind her.

"Well, that was fun."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. She knew the comfortable silence wouldn't last, but that didn't stop her from hoping. "If that was your definition of fun, you need to get out more."

Jane chuckled and nodded approvingly at her quick wit. "Bit ironic coming from you, but point taken."

She resisted the urged to stick her tongue out at him childishly as they reached his car. Lisbon glared at it as if it would bite her. Her date for the night obviously and easily picked up on her apprehensions.

"Ah, ah, ah. We made a deal. I pretend to be your boyfriend to make your high school rivals extremely envious, and you relinquish control for the duration of our visit and let me drive." He reminded her, grinning. Best deal he ever made.

She pouted slightly, "I wouldn't say _extremely _envious. You're not that much fun to be around."

"Ouch."

With a small sigh Lisbon dragged herself into the car and glared at Jane as his smile grew more smug by the second. "I'm only getting in this thing because like you said we made a deal, and I'm too tired to argue."

She stretched out in the passenger seat and kicked off her black stilettos. How did people willingly wear these things without chopping their toes off? Lisbon leaned against the window and allowed the fatigue to wash over her. She'd have a quick nap on the way to the hotel, hoping the car wouldn't decide to break down on the freeway and kill her in her sleep.

Before she let herself succumb to exhaustion though, she lifted her head and tilted it toward Jane. "You were right, y'know."

"That's nice of you to admit," he murmured, "but about what, exactly?"

"People really_ don't_ change after high school."

She let her head fall back onto the window as the consultants soft laughter filled her ears. Little did the supposed psychic know, she wasn't referring to Aubrey.

Lisbon smirked to herself as she drifted off. It felt good to pull one over on the Ice Queen again.

* * *

**A/N  
****  
No idea what this is. I finished this at 6:30 in the morning and was up for an hour writing it. Blame the lack of sleep. But I love the idea of Teresa being the bane of someone's high school existence, even if she doesn't know it. In this case she did. No beta so all mistakes are mine, obviously.**

**Sorry if this seems OOC, it probably is. If Aubrey seems like a total Mary Sue, again sorry, but she was supposed to be the cliche cheerleader that always felt the need to one up the other girls in her school, something that doesn't really fade even after graduation. Constructive criticism is appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Mentalist.**


End file.
